Make no mistake about it, former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson is looking to get his hands on some UFC gold.
Less than a month ago, Henderson fought top lightweight contender Jim Miller and, using his more technical striking and superior grappling abilities, was able to take the decision victory.
Even after beating him decisively, Henderson shows nothing but respect for Miller.
“Jim is a tough guy, my hat’s off to him. [There was] a lot of talk about him getting a title shot, [he was on] a seven fight win streak”, Henderson said. “I just went in there, I wanted to have fun and go make a statement.”
Henderson went on to elaborate on the statement he was trying to make.
“I wanted to say ‘Hey, I’m gonna get this UFC belt, I wanna get a [title] shot and this is me working for it.’ A lot of people forgot about me, but I’m here still.”
From there, MMA legend and former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten took the floor, complimenting Henderson on his performance against Miller and making particular note of his cardio.
“It was crazy. You didn’t even open your mouth,” Rutten said. “I mean, you’re in shape. There’s people who are in shape and there’s people who are in shape and you bring it to a whole new level. It’s a scary thought for any champion who sees that and he sees a guy who is totally dominating somebody and who doesn’t get tired.”
On the show, they revealed a poll MMAjunkie.com had put forth, asking which UFC lightweight contender most deserved a title shot right now—Gray Maynard was exempt from the poll because he is already getting the next title shot.
It was a close poll with Henderson taking 34 percent of the votes, just behind Clay Guida, who had 36 percent.
When the idea of Henderson fighting Guida for a No. 1 contender’s spot in the lightweight division was mentioned, Henderson seemed to like the idea.
“I’d love to get in there and see who has the better gas tank”, Henderson said of Guida, who is a fighter also known for his cardiovascular endurance.
Whether or not the UFC will make this fight remains to be seen, but the fight certainly makes sense and there seems to be a lot of people who want to see it happen.
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacherreport.com. For updates on what’s happening in the world of MMA, follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AndrewBarr8
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